http://youtu.be/8WOehRJBdYk
It is simple and, provided you have a blender, quick.
It has the benefits of both raw vegetables in the herbs and lightly cooked in the beans. If time allows, it would be better to steam the beans instead of boiling them since this better preserves the nutrients. The arguments of raw vs cooked: raw food is more nutritious. Any form of heat lowers nutritional value of food and the higher the heat, the more destructive it is. However, raw food is harder to digest so the counter argument is that we don’t get as much nutrition from the food because we can’t break it down properly. The cooked food camp says lightly steamed or stir fried is best; the food still has a bit of crunch, but the vegetable structure is partly broken down making it easier for our digestive system to access the nutrients.
Garlic is very good for you indeed. It has antibiotic qualities and is a powerful anti-oxidant. It is also one of the few plants that relaxes the blood vessels and increases blood flow.
Anchovy fillets are a good source of omega 3. If you buy them tinned, make sure they are canned in oil. Throw away the oil and rinse the anchovies. The majority of cans are lined with BPA to prevent corrosion. BPA – Bisphenol A – is linked to fertility problems, various cancers, disruption of thyroid function and an increase risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The BPA will leach into the oil in the can and not the anchovies.
The capers and olives will be in some sort of vinegar (check it isn’t malt to avoid gluten issues see The story with wheat)which further lowers the glycemic index of the meal. .
Adding oil to vegetables makes them taste better and also increases their bioavaliability. If vegetables are boring, it is hard to eat enough of them to do us good.
Olive oil is one of the few oils people agree is good for you. It should be extra virgin cold pressed to avoid rancidity – this would be caused by processing the olives with heat. Ideally the oil is also organic. Non-organic oil or fat can be particularly toxic to the brain because there is no blood brain barrier to fat soluble toxins.